1. Field of the Invention
It is assumed that the automatic performance of karaoke music is accomplished by using MIDI data to drive a digital sound source. The invention itself relates to a device for the display of animation images on a visual display medium by processing MIDI data during the performance of the music.
2. Description of the Prior Art
The configuration required for the automatic performance of karaoke music using a MIDI standard digital sound source is already known. The configuration for automatic performance in accordance with the MIDI standard requires only a minimal amount of data per piece of music compared with other systems such as PCM recording systems and as a result the required data can be conveniently stored on a memory dedium such as an optical disk. However, MIDI data can only be used as music data and is not used for the display of lyrics on a visual display medium. As a result the singer is obliged to go through the rather tedious process of reading from a separate book of lyrics while he is singing.
The inventor has already disclosed a number of technologies which resolve this problem through the incorporation into music data of lyric data in the form of character data which is then used for the display of lyrics on screen in time with the music (Japanese Patent Application No. H01-5793, No. H01-50788, etc.). Since this enables the lyrics to be displayed on screen in time with the music, it dispenses with the need for a book of lyrics. However, the mere display of lyrics on screen offers little to the singer in the way of either aural or visual enjoyment. This can easily lead to boredom amongst those awaiting their turn with the microphone.
It is, of course, possible to vary the background of the display against which the lyrics are being displayed but, since there is a need to keep the amount of data to a minimum, this is generally confined in practice to the variation of a single background color which is not very effective.
It is, of course, possible to think in terms of improving the visual effect by placing more emphasis on the image data, thereby giving equal treatment to the music data and the image data. Unfortunately, this would result in a sharp reduction in the advantages to be gained form configuring the data in accordance with the MIDI standard. The main disadvantages are: (1) The volume of required data would become much larger, thereby running contrary to the objective of the MIDI standard which is to provide high quality music using a minimal volume of data. (2) It would be necessary to create separate music data incorporating image data for each piece of music, thereby increasing the input cost. (3) A large capacity memory device or memory medium would be required. (4) In cases where the data size per unit was large, there would be a risk of impairing the performance of the music itself. (5) The time and cost of data transmission would be much greater. In other words, since the volume of data per unit is kept to a minimum when using music data based on the MIDI standard, it is desirable that the amount of image data should also be kept to a minimum.